The Oldham Liberal Democrats are proposing the Council gets ready to tackle nuisance pavement parking by preparing now for future legislation.

A motion has been tabled by Lib Dem councillors Dave Murphy and Chris Gloster for consideration at the next full meeting of Oldham Council (14 July 2021). 

The Department of Transport carried out a consultation about pavement parking that ended in November last year.  It is expected that the government will soon give local councils new powers to tackle problem parking, and the Liberal Democrats want to be ready.

Councillor Dave Murphy explained:  “The government consulted about a range of ‘options for change’ in the way that pavement parking is regulated.  We made clear in our response that we opposed a blanket ban on all pavement parking as this is simply not fair and realistic in a borough where so many of our motorists live in terraced houses on narrow streets.  It would also be very time consuming and expensive for the local authority to enforce.”

“Instead we want to see specific enforcement powers granted to local Councils to enable them to deal more effectively with pavement parking when it becomes a real nuisance to pedestrians, particularly residents with sight loss, other disabilities or infirmities, or using pushchairs.  We are keen to see the outcome of the consultation as soon as possible, as it now overdue.”

To make ready for any new legislation, the Liberal Democrat motion calls for all councillors to become involved in a survey to identify problem parking spots in their ward and for officers to identify a new strategy to tackle the nuisance.

Councillor Chris Gloster, a retired traffic police officer, said:  “We want all ward councillors to be consulted in order to create a boroughwide map of troublesome pavement parking spots in advance of new legislation.  This is a common-sense proposal that draws on the local knowledge of our ward members as local leaders, gained as a result of information from their constituents.”

“We also want officers to prepare a report to a future council meeting outlining what steps they propose to take to tackle this issue when new enforcement measures become available.  This will mean we can hit the ground running as soon as the law allows.”

The motion tabled at the next full meeting of Oldham Council, 14 July 2021, reads:

Motion – Pavement Parking: Options for Change

This Council notes that:

• Pavement parking can pose a hazard to pedestrians, especially people with sight loss, parents with pushchairs, wheelchair users and other disabled people.
• People with sight loss are especially at risk as they can be forced into the road and faced with oncoming traffic that they cannot see.
• Pavements are not designed to take the weight of vehicles and so surfaces can become damaged or subside, presenting a further hazard for pedestrians, particularly those with disabilities.

Action to tackle pavement parking in this Borough is currently problematic because:

• The current legislation on nuisance pavement parking is confusing.
• The legal remedies available to tackle nuisance pavement parking are unsatisfactory.
• Greater Manchester Police has previously refused a Council request for assistance with enforcement.

Council:

• Awaits with interest the Government’s promised response to the public submissions made to the Department of Transport’s ‘Pavement Parking: Options for Change’ consultation, but regrets that this response, promised by 31 March, is now over three months late.
• Anticipates that the outcome of the consultation will be for government to grant new powers to local authorities to address nuisance pavement parking, rather than imposing an unnecessary blanket ban that will be onerous on residents and costly and difficult for local authorities to enforce.

Council resolves to:

• Ask the Chief Executive to write to the Secretary of State for Transport requesting that the Government’s response to the consultation now be published as promised.
• Ask the relevant Executive Director to conduct a survey amongst the elected members of this Council asking members to identify streets within their ward where nuisance pavement parking occurs.
• Ask the relevant Cabinet Member to bring to a future meeting of this Council a report with the findings of this survey and details of the enforcement action that this Council proposes to take, taking account of any new powers the Government promises to make available to local authorities in their published response to the consultation.

Proposed by:                                                                 Seconded by:

Councillor Dave Murphy                                                 Councillor Chris Gloster